Samantha Pahlow discusses year-end financial planning strategies on KOIN-TV.
Time for a New Year
2020 will be a year many Americans will want to forget, and rightfully so. Record unemployment, tragic loss of human life and people trapped at home with no where to go. No doubt, there is good news and bad news on the horizon.
Holiday Spirit
As we move through the holiday season and collectively reflect on what has been an incredibly challenging year, we stay firm in our belief that the holidays are all about giving thanks, being grateful, staying humble and wishing for the best.
Post-COVID Commercial Real Estate
We are beginning to see the end of the pandemic as U.S. vaccine distribution begins this week. In addition, our research partner, Evercore ISI Research, is projecting that 100 million people will be vaccinated by end of the first quarter. Along with this victory comes predictions for the unfolding outcome for post-pandemic commercial real estate. The big debate centers around the persistence of the “work from home” trend permanently impacting demand for office space.
The Taming of the Flu
This week, “all the world’s a stage,” especially for William Shakespeare, the second person to be inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine in the UK. In the U.S., an outside panel of independent experts recommended Pfizer’s vaccine approval for emergency authorization. And as indicated this morning, FDA emergency use authorization approval should come shortly.
The Best and Worst of Times
The blight of COVID-19 resulted in unfortunate milestones this week – record hospitalizations, ICU stays and most sobering, a single-day high in fatalities from the infection here in the U.S.
Unique Year-End Financial Planning Opportunities in 2020
It has been a wild ride of politics, pandemics, and social unrest. As 2020 draws to a close, it’s time to review some typical year-end wealth planning reminders as well as ones that are unique to this year.
A Vaccination Rotation
2020 has been such a challenging year for so many, so on this Thanksgiving weekend we offer our thanks to all the healthcare workers who have provided comfort to so many amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also thankful for all the researchers and volunteers who appear to have us at the doorstep of widely available vaccines with the corresponding hope for a return to normalcy. True to form, financial markets have already begun anticipating what a post-vaccine world will look like and asset prices have responded accordingly.
Dan Clifton Post-Election Discussion Webinar Recording
On November 20, we hosted a post-election discussion with Dan Clifton, head of policy research at Strategas Securities.
How Far into the Future?
The stock market is a discounting mechanism. What does that mean? It means the value today is explained by the economy in the future and ultimately long-term earnings.
Christianson in Portland Monthly Supporting Meals on Wheels People
Scott Christianson, CFP®, executive vice president, and his wife, Lauren, were recently featured in Portland Monthly Magazine’s Portland Pages for the Donate Dinner fundraiser on behalf of Meals on Wheels People in collaboration with New Seasons.
The Gift of Charity
There are several planning opportunities for charitable giving with the remaining days in 2020 which can also be tax-savvy moves.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
On the back of the strongest election week returns since 1932, markets rallied sharply to begin this week as Pfizer announced 90 percent efficacy on a COVID-19 vaccine. Even more, the industries performing best were those most sensitive to economic momentum, instead of the “stay-at-home” trade that has dominated the market for the majority of the year with Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google accounting for around 80 percent of the S&P 500 return.
Markets Abhor Uncertainty
Assumed to be postulated by Aristotle, “horror vacui” roughly translates to “nature abhors a vacuum.” The financial market equivalent would be “horror incertae,” or “markets abhor uncertainty.”
Cole Interviewed by KXL Radio
COVID Economy
We have been closely monitoring the recent uptick in COVID-19 infections across the country and in Europe. The path of the virus is the most important factor in the economic recovery and the thing that we know the least about.
Wealth Management Insights: Ready, Set, Wait ...
Samantha Pahlow, CTFA, AWMA, discusses the proposed tax changes that could affect clients’ tax planning for 2021.
Humans Being
While retail investors continue to be focused on negative media headlines, stocks continue to climb the “wall of worry.”
Q4 2020 Mid-Quarter Investment Strategy Update
On October 20, our firm hosted a mid-quarter Investment Strategy Update webinar presented by Chief Investment Officer, George Hosfield, CFA, and Head of Fixed Income, Brad Houle, CFA.
Yield On, Yield Off
When the Federal Reserve cut their overnight policy rate by a total of 2.0 percent to the zero bound in the fourth quarter of 2008, few investors would have anticipated it would be another seven years before the Fed felt economic conditions warranted raising that policy rate by even one-quarter percent.